Possible owners meeting-NEATO ROBOTICS
A little cautionary note about NEATO ROBOTICS customer service. In the past these people have been nothing but helpful, but that seems to be be eroding.
My Neato XV-11 has difficulties recharging. It returns and hooks up, but doesn't really connect. I have to get down on my hands and knees to move it until I hit the '"sweet spot" and it charges. I cleaned the contacts, moved the charger around to different locations with no luck.
Finally, I called (Aug. 18) NEATO ROBOTICS and they said they would send another unit. I waited 2 weeks - nothing. I called again and they said my unit was flagged as a battery problem and warranty claim denied. This was not communicated to me - so I would have waited forever.
I told them the batteries were fine and, once connected, fully charged and would hold same. Customer service person said sorry for the mix up and they would send new unit out. Another week or two goes by (it is now Oct 12) and I call again. I am told that my unit is flagged as a battery issue and is not eligible for replacement. I explained the charger problem all over again and finally, after several conversations with technical support, customer service rep said they would send new unit. She also said that they sent me a message in August to tell me about denied warranty claim. I went back through phone log and this never happened.
NEATO has been a bright spot in a gray world, so this is disappointing. I will let everyone know what happens, because what happens to me is also happening to hundreds of other customers. Whether a new unit ever comes, and whether it looks like a new one with the current software/firmware installed is a little in doubt.
All of you suspicious readers at Oracle, Stanford, and the Palo Alto Research Center, this may still have a happy ending. I still have faith in this start up- just not quite as much faith.
NEW WARRANTY INFO
I was so impressed at the Neato Robotics Warranty and Customer Service. Their warranty and customer service gave people confidence that this experiment would not waste their money. It was explained to me and I explained to you that the 1 year original warranty started over each time a new unit was sent. The Customer Service Rep guaranteed this interpretation. I even repeated it back to her as I knew I would be telling my readers. Now I am told this is incorrect. The 1 year Warranty stays at the date of your original purchase. That date does not move forward with replacements.
An example is:
Buy original unit for Christmas 2011
Unit replaced July 2012
-Warranty date is still Christmas 2011 and does not move forward.
Good to know this information before deciding to purchase a NEATO.
Possible BAD FUTURE SCENARIO
Buy Neato Christmas 2011
Receive replacement December 15, 2012
-Breaks January 1, 2013 without extended warranty
YOU WILL BE OUT OF WARRANTY (even though unit is only 2 weeks old)
I warned Customer Service that I would write this information on my blog and she said other Customer Service woman was wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment